1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a countertop kitchen appliance which occupies a minimum of kitchen counter space, i.e., has a small footprint, while increasing serving capacity over currently used similar appliances.
2. Description of Related Art
Toasters and toaster ovens are not new to the art. One common type of conventional toaster comprises two or four vertically-oriented heating units contained within a generally rectangular housing. Such toasters are common-place in households all over the world, and are perfectly suitable for households of one or two people. However, such toasters are do not have sufficient capacity for larger households, feeding guests, or commercial applications (such as restaurants or cafeterias) because only two or four items (toast, bagels, etc.) can be toasted at any one time. Moreover, providing a toaster having six or eight vertically-oriented toasting units is undesirable because of the excessive amount of counter space that would be required to accommodate large numbers of vertically oriented slots.
One potential solution to this problem is a toaster or toaster oven having a plurality of horizontally oriented slots which are stacked vertically. There have been attempts to design toasters and toaster ovens having such horizontally oriented toasting slots:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,578,034 to Baltzell shows a toaster having two horizontal elongated openings, each designed to accommodate a single food item in a horizontal orientation. Baltzell's toaster further includes a removable drip pan below each opening to receive butter, cheese and other materials likely to flow off of the edges of the food item being toasted. BaltzelI does not teach or suggest providing more than two openings. In addition, Baltzell's toaster appears relatively large and bulky.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,719,479 to Rodwick shows a toaster having two rectangular horizontally-oriented slots. Rodwick does not teach or suggest a toaster having more than two toasting slots. In addition, Rodwick's toaster is specifically designed with large open areas within the toaster to allow droppings from the food article(s) being toasted to fall to the bottom of the toaster.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,488 to Liu teaches a portable pizza oven having a horizontal cooking chamber designed to receive a removable pan assembly. As with the references discussed above, Liu does not teach or suggest providing an oven having more than one cooking chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,231 to DeLeon shows a tortilla warmer having a plurality of food enclosures. DeLeon shows one embodiment in which the food enclosures are horizontally oriented. However, DeLeon's tortilla warmer does not teach or suggest providing food enclosures which can be individually controlled. In addition, DeLeon does not teach or suggest providing a crumb catcher or drip tray between each food enclosure.